It is frequently necessary for input/output purposes, for example, to connect signal- and voltage-carrying wires to the conductors printed on the faces of printed-circuit boards. Typically this is done at the edge of the board where each printed conductor extends perpendicular to the edge as a thin strip.
In old-fashioned boards, not of the SMD type, the connector can be mounted on one face of the board as described in German 196 11 762 of Stadler. Here the connector has a pin that is pressed through a hole in the board and soldered in place and includes a seat for a wire end that can be clamped in place. In German 3,817,706 of Werk a clip is shown which engages through the board to press against both faces. This clip is elastically deformable to press a conductor of a wire against a face of the board. These systems are not usable in a system where contact must only be made with one face of the board, because the other face carries other conductors that must not be contacted.
The arrangement of German patent 3,710,394 of Eisert has a nonconducting housing that fits over an edge of the board in an exact fit and that has a tongue-like conductor engaging one face of the board. This arrangement only works with one size of board, and will not work at all if the board is slightly too thick or too thin as the mount will be sloppy and the conductor will not make adequate contact with the conductor on the face of the board.
In related art, German patents 3,514,099 and 3,514,097 of Hohorst show systems for joining two wires where a single resilient conductor strip can be elastically deformed such that when it is released it captures and presses together the conductors of two wires. This system is very convenient for solderless coupling of two wires, but is not readily adaptable for use with a printed-circuit board, much less an SMD board.